CLIENT STORY
The World’s Largest Social Giving Campaign
Project Overview
Colliers International is one of the world’s largest commercial diversified professional services and investment management company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The company wanted to develop an online portal to drive the highly successful ‘Everyone Gives’ social giving campaign launched in February 2012.
The company chose TechBlocks as its primary sponsor and technology partner to develop a global charitable donation engine and ensure the right technology systems were in place for the Everyone Gives campaign to hit the ground running.
The Results
Over
USD Raised
Charities Were Involved
Individuals Donated
Countries Participated
Project Scope
UI/UX Design
Technology Partner & Advisor
Self-service Portal Results
Website Development
Created Media Toolkit
Charity Registration Process
Database Setup & Configuration
Social media has the immense power to transform any idea into a viral message that can span across continents and demographics, uniting people and inspiring them to take action. However, this power is so often used to spread the latest celebrity gossip or debate the color of a dress, but what if we could harness this power to do something great that positively impacts the world around us?
Harnessing The Power Of Social To Change The World
This is precisely what Doug Frye, President and Global CEO of Colliers International, had in mind when he envisioned the plan for the highly successful Everyone Gives social media campaign launched in February of 2012. Collier’s International is one of the world’s largest commercial real estate firms. The company focuses heavily on social responsibility and has a long history of philanthropy within various communities worldwide.
The Global Impact
The campaign raised over 700,000 USD in just 17 days (Feb 22- Mar 9, 2012).
Participants in 64 countries made donations of varying sizes to their charity of choice.
The campaign was supported by thousands of people, including Britain’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose organization, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, was a significant partner.
More than 12,000 individuals in 474 cities donated to 1,479 charities.
The World Economic Forum and other large organizations sponsored the campaign.
100 percent of the donations received went directly to charities the public selected, ranging from well-known non-profits to small, local charities.
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“It’s not about how much you donate; it’s about making a difference by engaging as many people as possible in the act of giving. While none of us can solve the world’s challenges alone, Everyone Gives helps us see how much we can do when working together.”
Tony Bliar Former British Prime Minister
Discover how Tony Blair got involved in the Everyone Gives Campaign with his organization, The Tony Blair Faith Foundation.
Any great accomplishment starts with a seed (the raw idea), and with the proper foundation and nurturing, it grows into an achievement. Doug and his team at Collier’s International, including David Bowden, CEO of Colliers International Canada, planted the seed for Everyone Gives by developing a revolutionary concept.
The Giving Tree Vision
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01 Through creating an online portal on the Everyonegives.org website, participants donated as little as $5 to a charity they chose.
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02 Participants would then share this activity and invite others to give to their charity or another charity of their choice through Twitter, Facebook, or email.
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03 As people donated, the original requester’s “giving tree” – a virtual online tree, would begin to sprout and grow.
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04 Participants could then track the growth of their “giving tree” through their portal.
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05 Any charitable organization could register itself through the Everyonegives.org website.
Techblocks-Leading The Charge
To make their vision for Everyone Gives a reality, Colliers needed a technology vendor that would not only be up for the challenge but could deliver what was required for the tight deadlines and have the technology and business say to ensure the entire campaign ran smoothly. TechBlocks fit these criteria and was selected as the primary technology sponsor for the campaign.
TechBlocks was commissioned as the primary technology partner for Colliers International. The company worked diligently with the Colliers team and other big-name partners, such as AT&T and Slalom Consulting, to understand the campaign concept and ensure the right technology systems were in place for the Everyone Gives campaign to hit the ground running.
In Just 6 Months, TechBlocks Helped To Create
A Global Charitable Donation Engine That Included
Complete website development, from concept to launch, for the EveryoneGives.org website.
Development of an online portal where participants and registered charities could track and monitor funds distribution and growth.
Backend database development and integration with the website to manage individual giving trees and participating charitable organizations.
UI/UX design for website and portal.
Creation of a registration system for charitable organizations that wanted to participate.
Designing a media toolkit to recruit major corporate sponsorship.
Gaining Momentum
Before the technology system could be developed, the campaign needed financial support to hit the ground running. TechBlocks generated interest and gained the corporate sponsorship required for the campaign to take flight. We supported these efforts by designing the media toolkit to tell the Everyone Gives story in front of the World Economic Forum and other major organizations to promote participation. These toolkits were also used to promote corporate giving programs within large organizations.
Technology
The campaign and the technology behind it leveraged the immense power of social media and a custom-built web portal using the DNN CMS platform to have a huge impact that was felt across the globe.
Behind the scenes, the campaign required a massive database to: Store user data and activity; Track the growth of each individual giving tree; Track the allocation of funds between the charities involved; and Integrate with social sites for login, sharing, and connections.
The TechBlocks team built this robust database on the .NET platform with MS SQL database in the backend.
DNN Evoq Content
MS SQL Server
Microsoft ASP .NET
Focus On User Experience
A significant part of the Everyone Gives’ success lies in all the systems TechBlocks built for the campaign focused on providing participants with a user-friendly experience. By seamlessly integrating social platforms that most of the world was already using, the online portal was easy and intuitive – the necessary ingredients for any successful technology endeavor or viral campaign.
How TechBlocks Can Help?
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